Color developers for use in the processing of color photographic silver halide light-sensitive materials (hereinafter sometimes referred to merely as "light-sensitive material") greatly influence the photographic characteristics.
In general, color developers contain an aromatic primary amine developing agent which forms dye on coupling with a coupler. These developing agents, however, are oxidized with a lapse of time by oxygen in the air or metal ions in the color developers. This adversely influences the photograhic characteristics. For this reason, as is well known, sulfites are used as antioxidants for color developing agents. The amount of these sulfites which can be used is limited since they seriously inhibit the coupling reaction between the developing agents and the couplers. Hence, in color developers, sulfites are not used in large amounts as they are in black and white developers.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,141,771 discloses that hydroxylamines can be used as antioxidants in combination with sulfites. The decomposition of these hydroxylamines, however, tends to be accelerated by the presence of heavy metal ions, such as iron ions and copper ions, yielding ammonia. As is well known, ammonia adversely influences the characteristics of color photographs. Thus, even if hydroxylamines are used, the stability of color developers are improved only insufficiently.
Various compounds have heretofore been proposed to prevent the decomposition of the color developing agents and hydroxylamines in the color developers. Typical examples are shown below.
Hydroxamic acid (U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,426); dihydroxynaphthalene compounds (Japanese Patent Application (OPI) No. 49828/77 (the term "OPI" as used herein means a "published unexamined Japanese patent application)); saccharides (U.S. Pat. No. 4,124,391); alkanolamines (U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,478); polyalkyleneimines (U.S. Pat. No. 4,252,892); .alpha.-aminocarbonyl compounds (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,155,764 and 4,142,895); gluconic acids (Japanese Patent Application (OPI) Nos. 75647/81 and 41448/80); hydroxyacetone and dihydroxyacetone (U.S. Pat. No. 3,615,503 and British Pat. No. 1,306,176); 2-anilinoethanol (U.S. Pat. No. 3,823,017); and aromatic polyhydroxy compounds (Japanese Patent Application (OPI) Nos. 47038/81 and 32140/81, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,746,544).
These compounds, however, have disadvantages in that the stability of the color developers can be improved only insufficiently, they are expensive, the amount to be added should be increased, and the compounds themselves adversely influence the photographic characteristics. Hence they are not suitable for practical use.